The wog ball scandals keep on coming, with US authorities examining whether effective bribes passed between Fifa-linked bodies and US commercial partners in breach of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

US securities regulators are examining the behaviour of several companies with links to Fifa or other soccer bodies caught up in a major global corruption scandal to see if there were possible violations of US federal bribery laws, according to a report.

The civil probe was in its early stages and may or may not lead to any findings of wrongdoing or enforcement action, said the Reuters news agency, citing an unnamed official who described an investigation being carried out by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Separately, the head of Bolivia’s soccer federation, Carlos Chavez, has been arrested on charges of corruption in the management of finances related to the sport, according to that country’s public prosecutor.

US and Swiss authorities are conducting a wide-ranging investigation into bribery involving soccer officials, marketing executives and various companies. In late May the US indicted nine soccer officials – most of whom held positions at Fifa – and five executives for a range of offences related to more than $150m of alleged bribes and kickbacks. Read more »

reports suggests that the Islamic State has banned Nike apparel because the brand’s name sounds like the term for sexual intercourse in Arabic. Militants have reportedly been ordered to get rid of smutty-sounding sportswear.

There is not much I enjoy about the Olympics and so here are seven techniques to use to change the topic whenever someone wants to bore you shitless talking about the Olympics.

Them: “So-and-so won a bronze medal!”
You: “That’s fascinating. Did you know bronze is composed of roughly 88 percent copper and 12 percent tin? Its melting point is about 1742 degrees Fahrenheit.”

Them: “I wonder how London’s dealing with the Olympics.”
You: “That’s fascinating. More fascinating is how London dealt with World War II aerial bombardment. Working people basically forced their way into the tube stations during the Blitz, where they slept on the platforms.”

Them: “Michael Phelps is amazing. I wonder how he’s gonna do this year.”
You: “That’s fascinating. Elizabeth Phelps, the NYU neuroscientist, has shown you can defuse and even erase fearful memories just by thinking about them in very specific ways.”

Them: “Danny Boyle is directing the Olympics opening ceremony!”
You: “That’s fascinating. He also once directed a short called Alien Love Triangle, which starred ‘Kenneth Branagh, Heather Graham, and Friends‘ Courtney Cox, who plays a male alien in a female body.’ It remains unreleased.”

Them: “In the medal race, I think China’s going to come out ahead.”
You: “That’s fascinating. Speaking of heads, the actress Hedy Lamarr also designed a secret communications system for the American war effort. It relied on frequency-hopping, which is now a key foundational technology for some cell phone networks like Sprint’s.”

Them: “Peter Sagan is a big underdog in the men’s road race. Still, I hope he wins the gold.”
You: “That’s fascinating. Carl Sagan put together a golden record for the Voyager spacecraft, which is about to become the first human made object to leave our frigging solar system. He included whale songs, Beethoven, Chuck Berry, thunder, greetings in a bunch of languages, and 116 images.”

Inspired by Nike releasing a limited edition of Marty McFly’s shoe Labour are going back to the future with their employment policy, but without the cool and cachet of Marty McFly’s shoe.

Phil Goff actually turned up for this policy launch and fronted with the sure fire vote winner Darien Fenton. I wonder what the Mad Butcher thinks of this policy.

What Darien wants is to take us back to the good old days of unions fighting massive battles with employers, grinding the country to a halt with lots of strikes where ideological unions fight battles against anyone who opposes their ideology. The problem is that there are so few union members left Darien has to impose defacto union membership on everyone by reintroducing National Awards, Centralised Wage Setting, and a Work Place Commission to tell employers what they have to pay and who they have to pay.

This is another policy that sucks air time from Labour’s campaign, appealing to their small group of union insiders rather than Waitakere Man and Woman who are a generation removed from unions and the ideological battles they wish they were still able to fight.

It certainly looks like Damien O’Connor was dead right when he talked about self serving unionists running Labour. Not only are they running Labour but also writing and dictating their policy.